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Morty score228
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egtung

    Eric Tung (he/him) | California Bay Area

    @jaynaleah@Busboom@embarrassingdad

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    • Bio
    • Experiences (228)
    • Wishlist (0)
    • Reviews (149)>
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    • Escape rooms (149)
    Pins & Needles Tattoo Parlor

    Pins & Needles Tattoo Parlor

    The Exit Games FL

    • Escape room
    • IRL

    𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 �𓅝𓃄 �𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿 𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 𓂨𓅝𓃄 𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿

    The Starlight Motel

    The Starlight Motel

    Escape Artist Greenville - Downtown

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    Wow, just wow. This was easily the best standalone game on our Columbia/Greenville trip (though Help Wanted edges it out overall since it caps off a three game series), and almost certainly makes my personal top 10% ever. If you're anywhere near Greenville, you need to give this a play. Our GM was a fantastic character, fun to improv with (at times we stopped puzzling just to get to know her character), had in-world ways to convey nudges (great for immersion), and had a good acting range. The set was convincing, and the story beats on point. Puzzles were fair, made sense in universe, and played into the plot well at several points. It's incredible they managed to fit this much story and experience into a 60 minute game, I would have sworn it was longer. Note that this is more of an immersive experience than most escape rooms, so more theatrics, interaction, and heavier emphasis on plot.
    The Passage

    The Passage

    Twisted Limits Escape Rooms

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    Dark Lullaby

    Dark Lullaby

    Escape Artist Greenville - Hampton Station

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    This game has a very nice set and memorable actor interactions/banter. Puzzles made sense and were fair. This applies to all the Chimera Corp games, but it's great (and unusual) how much of the experience begins even before entering the actual escape room. The lobby being themed, the in-universe newspapers lying around, and the in universe orientation briefing make things super immersive. Personally, though I'm not a fan of horror, so this game didn't speak to me and was my least favorite of the three Chimera Corp games (though I still enjoyed it and thought it was well done). It did help build up the universe for Help Wanted.
    Storyteller's Secret

    Storyteller's Secret

    Boxaroo

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    This was my favorite of the Boxaroo games. Just based on the set, I knew we were in for a treat as soon as we stepped into the room. This turned out to be absolutely accurate - I'm a sucker for the theme. Great use of tech throughout, an interesting reuse of stuff later in the game, and a satisfying final puzzle. I'm astonished the game is so old, it still holds up extremely well.
    Robotopia

    Robotopia

    Omescape - Sunnyvale

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    I think Robotopia is Omescape Sunnyvale's strongest room. Great set, fun puzzle interactions, and a tense finale add up to a win. It did look like there were some ghost puzzles (i.e. places where there used to be puzzles, but for some reason they got removed without getting rid of all traces of them) in the room.
    Down The Rabbit Hole

    Down The Rabbit Hole

    The Final Door

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    There's one thing this room does ridiculously well, and it's the set of the first area. Merely stepping in was a "wow" moment, and then it quickly escalated into "Am I on drugs?" levels of amazing (which makes a lot of sense given the theme). Having said that, the set was not everyone's cup of tea, so YMMV. The rest of the experience was decent - puzzles were good, and areas felt fairly distinct. Some props felt worn, they could do a better job on maintenance. There's one section of the game that can't be bypassed and requires climbing/crawling. If you have mobility issues, I'd talk to the staff to figure out if you'll be able to do it.
    The Storykeeper

    The Storykeeper

    Locurio

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    Setwise, The Storykeeper was good (and a clear step up from Vanishing Act). Locurio is located in a converted residential building, and it seemed like they weren't allowed to make major modifications to the walls, leading to the awkward feeling of being in a room that, while nicely decorated, was ultimately just one you might find at home. If they were able to modify the walls, I think that would tip it over to a great set for me. There were some spots where lighting could have been better. The set seemed to be in good condition - I wouldn't have guessed that this game had been around for so long. The high point of the game for me was the GM/actor - his character was great, and helped elevate the unusual plot. Creating a compelling story seems to be Locurio's strength as a company. Spacewise, 3 players felt like a good number for Storykeeper. The space felt a little smaller (or at least more occupied) than Vanishing Act, so I don't think I'd want to go above 4. While still parallelizable, it's not as much as in Vanishing Act, and I think 2 decent players would have a good time. Puzzlewise, most things seemed good, but there could have been better signposting in a few spots. I could see one puzzle potentially being problematic for people who don't have a particular background, as I didn't see anything in-game which would have indicated what we needed to know if we hadn't already known it. Another puzzle seemed to have no indication about the intended interaction method - while there was feedback, it was subtle and as far as we could tell, unclued in-game.
    The Forest of Fables

    The Forest of Fables

    CU Adventures in Time and Space

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    This is one of my favorite experiences, and IMHO the best one (currently) at CU Adventures. Game Night and Rise of the Icarus both being contenders for the title, but the scope and fun interactions and set all made Forest of Fables stand out. Puzzles are well integrated into the set and story. Gameplay is pretty linear, so even though the space supports a large group, I think it's better to play with a small group. It's not an issue as long as people are OK with observing more than playing, and to be fair, there's a lot to see and take in -- the set is gorgeous and expansive. The GM actor was an important part of the game, and it would not have worked nearly as well without her performance.
    Crazy Train: The Ballad of Skeemin' Plotz

    Crazy Train: The Ballad of Skeemin' Plotz

    Doldrick's Escape Room

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    Crazy Train is one of my favorite games ever. The set's unique aesthetic fits in really well with the setting and theme; I think the creators perfectly pulled it off. The best part, though, was the humor - not just the intro video (which pretty much every room at Doldrick's does a good job at), but also throughout. We were there to solve puzzles, but at one point late in the game the humor was so compelling that we got distracted and just listened to an amusing sidestory. The game started a little slow, but the interactions got better and better as the game went on.
    Don't Take A Breath

    Don't Take A Breath

    Verone Live Action Escape Rooms

    • Escape room
    • IRL
    Impressively large set, it really felt like we were in someone's house. I've never seen the movie this room was based on, but there was enough prompting that it was easy to figure out what to do next. This game is very different from most escape rooms, there was a lot of emphasis on stealth and keeping away from the actor. There were some moments where we couldn't take the time to gather up and make sure everybody saw something happen, we had to just go for it, which added to the tension. Having said that, most of the game was about the anticipation and psychological tension. Somewhat minor, but one thing that was kind of weird to me was during the in-character intro briefing, the actor's character was a sketchy gay man making inappropriate comments about the players. I like to think that American media has mostly been past that for decades, but it was a reminder that other parts of the world aren't as progressive (or maybe it s a reference to the movie, I have no idea). Side note: Many people (local escape room owners and our taxi driver) commented how dangerous the area we were going to was, but it seemed normal. The area around the game looked clean, there weren't any sketchy people around, and when we killed some time at a nearby cafe before the game, there were a lot of middle to upper-middle class people gathered (i.e. not the type I would expect to see if the neighborhood was really rough). We played in English and had no problems.